The present invention relates to medical stapling devices for applying metal staples to suture living tissue such as disunited skin or fascia.
The prior art is replete with medical stapling devices for use in suturing living tissues. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,643,851; 3,662,939; 3,837,555; 3,873,016; 4,014,492 and 4,185,762 are illustrative of such devices which include various mechanisms which may be operated to move a plurality of open staples along a track and sequentially into engagement with an anvil so that the staple engaging the anvil will be closed to engage it with tissues adjacent the anvil.
The mechanisms by which these stapling devices are operated vary considerably in complexity. Simple reliable operating mechanisms are much desired in such devices to afford low manufacturing costs for the devices whether they are reusable or intended for a single use; and, where the device is reusable, so that the mechanism can be easily disassembled, cleaned, reassembled and sterilized.